Faith Project: walk on water

"God's instructions to Joshua preparatory to entering the promised land to fight the good fight of faith in order to possess his promised possessions remains a proven "formula for spiritual success" for saints today who like Joshua have been set apart that we might become experiential possessors of our positional possession of every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

As the Lord Jesus Christ calls me to digging deeper into the Holy Scripture and hide more of God's Word in my heart it has become increasingly alive and obvious to me that for any effort I have previously put into knowing God and his ways - I have barely scratched the surface of it's rich treasures. The more I dig into the Word of God the more I understand that I have ignorantly underestimated it's worth and it's power for my life. All the answers I seek are in God's Word, The Bible. Not only does it contain the answers to my every need (I Timothy 4:8, 2 Peter 1:3) but it contains the power to will (desire) and to do (Philippians 2:13) the instructions to fulfill the promise - and in keeping of them there is great reward (Psalms 19:11).

My memory selection that I am working on is Psalms 119. I chose this chapter because of it's focus on the value of God's Living Word.

1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!
2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
3 who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
4 You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
5 Oh that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous rules.
8 I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!

I'm starting with the first section which is the first eight verses. It is my desire to not only work at committing these words to my memory but to also meditate the words, the meaning and implication of the words.

The word that stands out is "blessed". Who are the blessed? Those whose way is blameless, who walk in the way of the Lord. The blessing is what I seek so therefore I must be blameless. As New Testament Believer I am the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. But this cannot be achieved without the transformation of both hearing and doing God's Word (James 1:22-25).

God's Word is relevant for whatever you are facing, whatever I am facing. The answers to living a blessed life are in God's Word. There is so much more to the Christian Walk - power for every day living - when one studies and abides in God's Holy Word.

photo: Thank you Midway Baptist Church

Mark 6:1-6 NIV

1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Faith, or lack of faith, caused Jesus to be amazed, or marvel. (Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10).

If I have faith, where are the miracles?

The one and only time that Jesus could not (see in verse 5 where it says He could not do any miracles) is in the passage above. The only condition described for this phenomenon was the lack of faith among his own towns people.

Hebrews 11: 6 tell us that "Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God." I argue, but YES, I do have faith. Okay then, where is the evidence of the greater things that Jesus promised to believers?

12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Almost with out fail whenever I talk with someone about supernatural, miraculous healing such as the healing activity that characterized the ministry of Jesus, I am told that, "It's not always God's will to heal?" Really? When, in scripture, was it not God's will to heal?

When true faith is present, supernatural things happen...every time. And without this kind of faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.

I love this quote that I saw when I was researching for today's blog post:

Faith isn’t about size. Jesus said if you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could move mountains. Jesus was saying that faith doesn’t come in small, medium, or large sizes. Faith is either present or absent. If it’s absent, your life is full of limitations, and you are stuck in Nowhere Land. If it’s present, you can move mountains. Real Power Maxing Out on God's Love

I'm just saying that I'm looking at my own life and saying that I know I have a form of godliness - but there is no "faith evidence". Not according to scripture. Not according to Jesus.

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mark 11:22-25 NIV

I cannot think of a time when I have done any thing that even resembles the moving a mountain. Don't get me wrong - I am blessed beyond measure. God is so good to me and I truly have seen God work in my life - but I am operating way below my potential for what God has for me. I know it! I believe that God knows it and is calling me to know and walk in this truth.

The above verse is in the context of Jesus cursing the fig tree. Jesus response to Peter, when Peter noticed the tree was dried up and dead 24 hours later, seems to indicate that Peter and the other disciples should be able to do this too.

As I wrestle with this thought, testing my own faith, I ask, "Do I have the kind of faith that pleases God?" "Do I have the kind of faith that makes Jesus marvel as the centurion of Matthew 8:5-13, or the Syrophoenician woman of Matthew 15:21-28?

¹⁴ When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. ¹⁵“Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
¹⁷ “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” ¹⁸ Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
²⁰ He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Again - whenever the miraculous was not present God's will was never in question it was the faith of the disciples. I know, that makes me uncomfortable too.

It only takes faith as tiny as that of a mustard seed to move an entire mountain. In fact, with faith that tiny "nothing will be impossible" to us. Nothing.

This has become a burning desire to have and build the faith that pleases God. The faith that preaches and teaches the good news of the Gospel - the power of God unto salvation. A faith that compels my family, my friends and neighbors to say, "Tell me about this God that you serve. I want to know him too."

The kind of faith that Jesus speaks of when he says I can do what he did while he as on this earth, and greater things.

In an effort to distance ourselves as not being a "seeker of signs & wonders" we have distanced ourselves from the signature of our Savior. When Jesus preached the Gospel, people were healed and set free...and their sins were forgiven them.

Stop by the blog tomorrow and discover what does the Princess Diaries movie have to do with walking by Faith.